Teacher perceptions of school discipline *policies in a multi -school, public charter school corporation and administrator response

This study used quantitative and qualitative methods to determine teacher and administrator perceptions of the effectiveness of disciplinary policies used in three K-12 public charter schools. The level of violence, frequency and severity of 12 types of student misconduct, and the effectiveness of 10 prevention strategies currently used in the schools were also studied. Sixty-four teachers and 7 administrators participated in the study. The schools are managed by a public charter school corporation and use similar disciplinary policies. The schools are racially mixed although primarily white, and located in a small town, rural area, and in an urban fringe suburb in the Midwest.;The study surveyed K-12 teachers and employed focus groups at each school to determine the teachers' perceptions of the disciplinary policies. Teacher survey responses were analyzed using descriptive and statistical analysis. Focus groups expanded upon and provided understanding of the survey data. An administrators' roundtable was conducted to discuss their perceptions of their schools' violence problems and disciplinary policies and comment on the results of the teacher sections of the study. Teacher and administrator data was then compared to disciplinary records required by the state and to the records of the local public school district, and also to national school crime and safety statistics.;The study found that teachers and administrators agreed the disciplinary policies were effective in controlling student behavior and that violence was not a serious problem. Experienced teachers perceived violence to be more of a problem than inexperienced teachers. When comparing the frequency and severity of student behavior requiring disciplinary action, bullying, fighting, and vandalism were considered problematic behaviors while drugs, weapons, and gangs were not considered a frequent threat. Student-centered prevention strategies, including after school programs, were considered effective as were administrative strategies such as stationing teachers in the halls. In-school suspensions were favored over out-of-school suspensions and expulsions. Levels of student violence and behavior requiring disciplinary action were found to be below local public school levels and published national school crime and safety statistics.